Camille Naredo

Firefighters and rescue personnel carry the body of a victim near the scene where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province, some 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul on December 29, 2024. Jung Yeon-je, AFP

Firefighters and rescue personnel carry the body of a victim near the scene where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province, some 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul on December 29, 2024. - A Jeju Air plane carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea crashed on arrival, smashing into a barrier and bursting into flames, leaving all but two feared dead. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

Article (news)

Jeju Air

Agence France-Presse

<p>SEOUL, South Korea -- The emergency landing of Jeju Air Flight 2216 looked highly skilled, experts say, but all except two of the 181 people on board were killed when the Boeing 737-800 hit a wall and burst into flames.</p><p>As South Korean investigators probe the causes of the country&#x27;s worst-ever aviation disaster on home soil, AFP takes a look at what could have gone wrong:</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/29/179-dead-in-south-korea-s-worst-plane-crash-2259">READ: 179 dead in South Korea&#x27;s worst plane crash</a></div><div><strong>What happened?</strong></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1735545759843AFP__20241229__36RQ49F__v2__Preview__SkoeraAviationAccident.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Firefighters and rescue personnel carry the body of a victim near the scene where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province, some 288 kilometres southwest of Seoul on December 29, 2024. Jung Yeon-je, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Firefighters and rescue personnel carry the body of a victim near the scene where a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 series aircraft crashed and burst into flames at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province, some 288 kilometers southwest of Seoul on December 29, 2024. <em>Jung Yeon-je, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>The flight from Bangkok to southwestern Muan International Airport in South Korea was warned of a bird strike by the control tower as it came in to land.</p><p>Minutes later, the pilot issued a mayday call before attempting an emergency landing -- with video showing the plane coming down on the runway without its landing gear engaged.</p><p>Bird strikes can cause fires inside the plane&#x27;s engines, damaging critical systems which can render the landing gear inoperable -- meaning the wheels don&#x27;t come out to facilitate a smooth landing, said former pilot Kim Kwang-il.</p><p>A &quot;belly landing&quot; is an emergency procedure for precisely this scenario and planes are designed to withstand this in emergencies, Kim, also a professor at Silla University Aeronautical Science, told AFP.</p><p>&quot;In this particular case, the pilot executed the belly landing exceptionally well,&quot; he said, saying the plane came in &quot;like a swan gracefully landing on a lake, slightly tilted backward for a smooth descent.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Considering the emergency, the landing was remarkably well-executed.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>What went wrong?</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABSY30NOeRiLuud4&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script><p>Video shows the plane hitting a barrier, prompting it to burst into flames. Only two people were rescued, both airline crew plucked from the tail of the plane.</p><p>Kim said he was &quot;quite upset&quot; to see the collision with the wall, saying there should not have been any solid structures in the area, to allow for emergency landings -- and if the wall had not been there, lives could have been saved, he said.</p><p>&quot;Most of the passengers died because of this obstruction, which is devastating,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;While the bird strike, or &#x27;act of God,&#x27; was the root cause of the accident and unavoidable, the presence of this structure turned it into a tragedy,&quot; he said, as without it, the plane could have skidded to a safe stop.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/30/flags-fly-at-half-mast-as-south-korea-probes-its-worst-plane-crash-1422">READ: Flags fly at half-mast as South Korea probes its worst plane crash</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>What was this barrier?</strong></div><p>Deputy minister for Civil Aviation Joo Jong-wan said the barrier was a so-called localizer, which is a &quot; type of navigational aid.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The specific foundation on which these devices are placed varies depending on the airport,&quot; he said, with no &quot;standardized or uniform design.&quot;</p><p>At Muan, like several other airports in South Korea, the localizers were on &quot;piled-up soil, and concrete structures have been installed within these soil layers,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;The connection between these localisers and the accident will be thoroughly examined during the investigation process,&quot; Joo added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>And the birds?</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABSZHwOujUrTKDcU&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script><p>Muan is in a wetland area, popular with migratory birds, and deputy minister Joo said that the airport had long taken measures to minimize bird intrusions affecting flights.</p><p>&quot;These measures include the use of bird repellents, activities to deter birds, removal of habitats, blocking drainage channels to prevent attraction within the airport,&quot; Joo said.</p><p>It was likely ducks, common in the area, played a key role in the accident, said Choi Chang-yong, professor at Seoul National University&#x27;s forest sciences department.</p><p>&quot;Because planes move much faster than birds can perceive or evade, they likely couldn&#x27;t react in time,&quot; he said, adding that birds also often collide with cars for this reason.</p><p>In winter, Muan attracts &quot;ducks and geese, such as northern pintails and other species,&quot; in significant numbers, he said.</p><p>Muan has the highest bird strike rate of all South Korea&#x27;s 14 airports, except for the country&#x27;s largest airport Incheon, according to statistics from the land ministry and the Korea Airports Corporation.</p><p>Its strike rate from 2019 to August 2024 was 0.09 percent -- nine bird strikes for every 10,000 flights, five times more than Seoul&#x27;s second airport Gimpo.</p><p>Experts claim Muan&#x27;s Bird Strike Prevention Committee is not well staffed and doesn&#x27;t function effectively. Only one person was working to prevent bird strikes on the day of the accident, local media Herald Corporation reported.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Was it the plane?</strong></div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABSaYGiNtuDbTUxk&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script><p>Immediately after the crash, some online speculation focused on the aircraft, a Boeing 737-800, and whether it could be at fault.</p><p>Jeju Air said that 39 out of its 41 aircraft are Boeing B737-800s -- making it the largest South Korean operator of this model.</p><p>South Korea said Monday it was launching a &quot;comprehensive inspection&quot; of all 101 Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country&#x27;s carriers.</p><p>Boeing was under fire after Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), a flight stabilising feature, was implicated in a series of crashes involving its 737 MAX jetliners, which killed hundreds of people.</p><p>After two 737 MAX crashes -- a 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash and 2018 Lion Air crash -- the entire 737 MAX fleet were grounded for more than 20 months for authorities to investigate.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>The emergency landing of Jeju Air Flight 2216 looked highly skilled, experts say, but all except two of the 181 people on board were killed when the Boeing 737-800 hit a wall and burst into flames.</p>

The emergency landing of Jeju Air Flight 2216 looked highly skilled, experts say, but all except two of the 181 people on board were killed when the Boeing 737-800 hit a wall and burst into flames.

What caused South Korea's most deadly plane crash

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What caused South Korea's most deadly plane crash

Agence France-Presse,

Hieun Shin

Published Dec 30, 2024 04:47 PM PHT

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